MONTGOMERY, Ala. - When Caddell Construction took on the responsibility to design and build a high-security penitentiary in McCreary County, Ky., company directors knew it was a big project. What they didn't know was how much attention and how many awards they would garner.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons had previously been plagued with schedule and cost overruns and was seeking a way to end the pattern. But the penitentiary project was an ambitious one, encompassing 21 separate major buildings on a 430-acre site. The main penitentiary would be 533,000 square feet, and the adjoining federal prison camp would be approximately 32,000 square feet. The contract was valued at more than $124 million.

The company finished the project ahead of schedule and under budget by extensive use of pre-cast walls and modular pre-cast four-cell units to speed construction of the inmate housing facilities. It also established an on-site concrete pre-casting and batch facility that was so successful, it has since become standard operating procedure for federal prison design/build construction.

Caddell finished the construction project on Oct. 11, 2002 - two weeks ahead of schedule - and the company is still receiving awards for the work it did. Most recently, Caddell won the 2004 DBIA Excellence in Design/Build Merit Award. The company also won the 2003 AGC Marvin M. Black Excellence in Partnering Award, the 2002 National Excellence in Construction Eagle Award for No. 1 Project in nation (more than $100 million) and the 2002 ABC/DBIA Excellence in Partnering Award.